Write-in candidate Leticia Lopez leads incumbent Council Member W. Michael McCormick for seat on Vernon City Council after preliminary unofficial vote count of mail-in ballots

Vernon, CA – Vernon voters yesterday gave Leticia Lopez, a write-in candidate, a slim two-vote lead over incumbent Councilmember W. Michael McCormick for a five-year term on the Vernon City Council based on the preliminary unofficial vote count in the city's vote-by-mail contested election. Councilmember McCormick has served as Vernon's mayor since an April 2013 vote by the five-member city council.

The preliminary unofficial municipal election vote count has Ms. Lopez leading 15-votes to Mayor McCormick's 13-votes. David J. Ybarra, a second write-in candidate, received one vote.

Vernon City Clerk Maria Ayala and her four-member election canvassing board tallied vote results from 29-ballots. The clerk's office received 33 vote-by-mail ballots from Vernon's 72 registered voters. One voter's ballot was disallowed for lack of a voter signature. Three vote-by-mail ballots remain to be canvassed based on the clerk's need to verify voter signatures on those ballots.

The clerk's office will conduct a final unofficial ballot canvass on Monday, April 18 at 1:00 p.m. The final canvass will determine the final unofficial vote count from the three uncanvassed ballots that were received, but not counted plus any remaining ballots that are received no later than Friday, April 15 that were postmarked on or before April 12.